Antique manuscripts, robots taking books off the shelves, an exciting interactive display, enchanted items, and rare copies of cultural texts – would you believe you can find all of this at the National Library of Israel?
For more than 130 years, the Library has preserved the greatest and most important written treasures of our culture, now available in a new building where you can experience and enjoy them yourself.
Since its founding in 1892, the National Library of Israel has gone through many changes, eventually becoming the national center for collecting, preserving, cultivating, and bequeathing the treasures of knowledge, culture and heritage of the Jewish People and Israel's citizenry as a whole.
In 2007, NLI embarked upon an ambitious journey of renewal for the 21st century, promoting access and encouraging meaningful engagement with the treasures of Jewish and Israeli culture as never before. The Library’s renewal, in partnership with Yad Hanadiv, a Rothschild Foundation, has centered on a range of innovative educational, cultural, and digital initiatives, culminating in the opening of NLI’s new David S. and Ruth L. Gottesman Building in the heart of Jerusalem, in October 2023. Situated between the Knesset and the Israel Museum, the new building is heralded as an architectural landmark that has taken a place of honor along the Jerusalem cityscape.
The Library has moved into a new, innovative building, completing the transformation of the National Library of Israel into a cultural and social institution presenting exhibitions and maintaining a variety of cultural and leisure activities. The Library also serves as an outstanding venue for hosting conferences and events in the highest standards.
Enhance your event by booking a guided group tour of the William Davidson Permanent Exhibition Gallery and the Treasury of Words exhibition, where visitors experience the Library's most precious objects: antique manuscripts and books, magical bowls inscribed with incantations, and writings from the archives of historical and cultural leaders. Discover the fascinating stories behind these treasures of many different eras, from the cradle of our civilization to the present day.
Outside the building, you can walk through the beautiful Idan and Batia Ofer Park and enjoy the Letters of Light sculpture by Micha Ullman in the Koum Family Foundation Letters of Light Sculpture Garden. You can also find Harry's Café, a dairy restaurant, prayer halls for all religions, as well as unique works of art, some of which were made specially for the Library.
